The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1887-12-07
TIE MAN IN TIE MOON.
A MYTH KNOWN TO BE OF GREAT
ANTIQUITY.


A Well Known German story.-what
Northern Mythology Tells Abput Hin.
doc Fables-Tbe Moon In Africa-A
Greenland Tale-An Australian Relief.
well known German story tells about
the man who cut sticks on the sabbath,
and WINS cnnght up In the moon fagots
and all, aud there stands to this day
Another tale told IN Swabia relates about
manikin who stole wood and Is SIN 70
be seen IN the moon. A Dutch household
myth accused the man in the moon II
stealing cabbage on Christmas eve. the
neighb0rs caught him inst ~ he was
walking off with a good supply, uud they
wished him up In the moon He stands
there to this day, bearing his load of cab
baRes II is sud TINT he turns round once
every Christmas eve, but astronomy does
not support the idea In Sylt. Tie man IA
the moon was n sheep stealer, and il was
his custom u entice the sheep with q
| bundle Of cabbages. He was placed IN the
moon Rs an everlasting warning to others.
In Shaumburg Lippe 1t is sud that man
and woman were sent to the moon. the
man because he prevented people from
going to church on Sunday by strewing
bramhles and thorn bushes In their way,
and the woman because she made butter
| on a Sunday.
Northern mythology tells about giant
who inhabits the moon, and is supposed
to cause the ebb and fow OF the tide.
When he stoops the water flows, and
when he stands erect the water subsidies
again This somewhat resembles the
Scandinavian myth about Bill and Hjuki,
who were taken up to heaven by Mani.
| They wero on their way TO the well Of
Byrgir, bearing on their shoulders the
bucket Soog and the pole Stimuli They
were placed In the moon and are sup
posed to regulate her waxing and wan
ing Evidently Jack and Jilln OF our
nursery rhymes reproduce this legend
Grimm says that tho water pole of the
heather story has been transformed into
the axis shaft and the pole into the thorn
bush.
THE HINDoo'S STORY.
In Hfndoo mythology the moon-Chandra
or Some-is n male deity represented In one
myth rs the son Of the patriarch Atri and
In another as arising from the milk sea,
when II WAS churned by the gods 40 as to
obtain the water Of life. The moon is gem
emily represented as wearing white gar
ment, holding a mace in one hand, and
riding a chariot drawn by ten horses and
antelopcs. The hare is sacred 10 him, and
the Iindoos fancy that they see the out
line Of hare on the face Of the moon.
In Africa the man in the moon Is sup
| posed 10 have incurred tho wrath of the
sun, and Is i'll punishment carved by the
| knife, that Is, by the rays of the latter.
| This continues until the whole OF the
moon is cut away and only little piece
left The moon implores the sun to have
pity on him, and leave this morsel for his
| children. The sun grants his request,
and the moon grows from this little piece
until at last it is a full moon. Then the
sun begins carving again.
In China the old man of the moon Is
| known rs Yue-lao and holds the reins Of
| marriages of mortals in his hands Tho
| future husband and wife are tied together
by an invisible silken cord, which is only
severed at death Harley remarks in his
funny way that this must be the man Vt
the honeymoon. a Slavonic legend says
| that the moon, king of night and husband
| of the sun, falls in love with the morning
| star, wherefore he was cloVcn through in
| punishment MS we see him in the sky
y Russian story is told about Il man
who sought for the isle in which there
was no death. He took up his abode in
| the moon, but after hundred years or so
| had elapsed death came after him. A
| furious struggle cnsued with the moon,
| and the latter proving victorious, the man
was caught up in the sky and now shines
las Il star near the moon.h 1t was not
| an unusual belief that the moon WINS in
| habited; some thought her the place where
! human spirits either came or went.
| Others fancicd it was II prison cage, in
which, behind bars of light, miserable
sinners were 10 be exposed to all eternity
rs warming to others.
VARIOUS sUPERsTITIONs.
Some say the man in the moon is Isaac,
bearing a burden of wood for the sacrifice
of himsclfo on Mount Moriah Others that
he is Cam, carrying bundle of thorns on
his shoulders in punishment for offering
to God the cheapest gift from his field.
Dante refers TO this in the "luferno,n
canto XIX, line 1913, where he speaks If
"Cain With fork of thornsh and again in
canto ii of the "Paradisen lie mentions
'the gloomy spots upon this body Qhe
moon'sl (which below ON earth give rise
to talk of Cam The Jews have Il story
that Jacobs face is visible in the moon.
According to French superstition. it is
Judas lsCnriot, who Was transported there
for his treason. Grimm tells us that
religious superstition is handed down by
Berthold, do, that the moon is Mary Mag
uultnt, anu the SllDlS are lcT lcilfS Oh re-
pentanCe.
In Greenland the sun and the moon
were said to he brother and sister NaIina
was leased by her brother Anninga, and
she ran away from him. He followed her,
but she flew up in the air and became tho
sun, and her brother, who could not fly SO
high, became the moon. lie is still pur-
suing his sister, hoping some day to sur
prise and capture her, when he is tired
and hungry in his last quarter he leaves
his house, ON n slcdge harnessed to four
dogs, and hunts for several days. On his
return he eats so much that he again
grows into n full moon ~
The Australians believe the moon to he
n mischievous being, who went about the
world doing evil. One dry he swallowed
the eagle god. The wives Of the eagle
came up, aud the moon asked them where
he could find we'll They showed him
one, and us he stopped over to drinl, they
hit him on the head ian idea manifcstly
plagiarzed by Miss Braddon in Lady
Audley's Secretly with tomahawk, and
out flew the eagle. Journal
The Umbrella Bargain Shop.
Not great many New York women
know about the umbrella bargain shop; it
does not advertise Itself, and those who
are III the secret are loo SilTtNu 10 Npitbi
the secret and thereby lessen their own
chances for that triumph dear To the te-
male heart One woman, at least, whose
income is limited, makes that bargain
shop stand her in good stead, and man
a4cs, by the aid of Il skiIlful scamstrcss
who comes 10 her by the day, to dress bet
ter than women with twice her income.
The shop itself is carried on in about this
fashion: Down stairs is an umbrella shop,
where a little old Hebrew does nea@er
business. Above there are three or four
rooms, where his wife, a lttle old He
brew lady carries on the real business of
, the establishment. In cedar closets,
ranged all about the walls are gorgeous
costumes in various stages of freshness
and good repair. shoes, slippers, honnctS,
furs, great boxes Of long gloves under
wear aiarettes-cyerY;hing that Wo-
/ men wear The old Hebrew lady gets
| hold Of these things in all sorts Of ways,